Fuel spill from damaged ship causes concern

A large quantity of fuel had reportedly leaked into the sea from the commercial ship Ocean Seraya, which was wreaked after crashing into a rock off the Karwar coast in Karnataka amid a stormy weather on Tuesday.

According to Indian Coast Guard officials, the ill-fated ship, which remains partly submerged in the seas, had over 700 tonnes of fuel. The oil spill had already raised environmental concerns along the coast of not only Karnataka, but beaches of adjoining Goa.

The threat to marine life and tourism on account of the oil leakage from the wreaked ship has become a source of concern along the coasts. However, Coast Guard officials in Goa, who have been monitoring the oil spread at regular intervals, said the fuel spill was not moving towards Goa.

The Coast Guard’s Chetak helicopter and Dornier aircraft were carrying out surveillance around the damaged ship, whose tank had been ruptured after hitting the rocks. “We have mobilized our equipments. Oil spill dispersants would be sprayed on the spill by the helicopter and the aircraft while a Coast Guard ship had been commissioned to control the spill”, Deputy Inspector General of India Coast Guard R M Sharma told reporters.

However, Sharma added that there was no need for panic on account of the oil spill as the 700 tonnes of fuel onboard the damaged ship had been distributed in various tanks in the ship. “Only one tank has been ruptured and there is no possibility of the entire fuel leaking into the sea”, he said.

The Karwar Port authorities too had visited the spot in the sea, where the damaged ship was stranded, and studied the implications of the oil spill.
It may be mentioned here that the 271-metre long and 35-metre high bulk carrier vessel from Singapore, with 20 people on board, was wreaked in the off the Karwar harbour in heavy rains on Tuesday. The Coast Guard helicopters had managed to evacuate nineteen of them while a sailor lost his life making a vain bid to escape from the sinking ship before the rescue operation was launched